On the podcast this week, the writer and journalist Emily Rhodes talks to Ed Thornton about Emily’s Walking Book Club, which she wrote about in this week’s Church Times (Features, 9 June). The book club, which meets monthly on Hampstead Heath and also has a monthly Zoom and a Live Discussion Thread, recently discussed Ronald Blythe’s rural classic, Akenfield.

On the podcast, recorded while walking round Clissold Park, in north London, Emily talks about how members of the book club responded to Akenfield; how a walking book club can foster community and meaning; and whether there are similarities to pilgrimage.

Find out more about Emily’s Walking Bookclub at emilyswalkingbookclub.substack.com.

Emily Rhodes is a writer and journalist, whose features and reviews have appeared in publications including the Financial Times, The Spectator, The Guardian, and the TLS. 

emilyrhodeswriter.com

Click the play button above to listen to this podcast. You can also listen to the Church Times Podcast on the Church Times app for iPhone and iPad, SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and most other podcast platforms. Music for the podcast is by Twisterium.